


Into the Light

by BritaniaVance



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic (Video Games)
Genre: Character Study, Drabble, F/M, Snippet, potentially to be turned into a full fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25543840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BritaniaVance/pseuds/BritaniaVance
Summary: A chance meeting though preordained, a mentorship-turned-friendship turned something more before it went sour - an exploration of Malak and the Jedi Exile's relationship pre-Malachor.
Relationships: Alek | Darth Malak/The Jedi Exile
Kudos: 10





	Into the Light

Alek hated waiting. The Academy grounds were quiet now, though the city hummed beyond. The halls were near-empty, save for a few wandering Masters and a lost looking youngling either skirting sleep or unsure of where to go. And then there was Alek, of course. He’d managed to speak with a few old friends, coaxed them to see his side of things - _Revan’s_ side. But there was still more to be done, and then there was _the girl_. The one Revan had asked about.

But Alek was running on fumes, having not slept since his voyage from the Outer Rim. His last respite felt as if it were days ago, and even then the ship had been full to the brim with refugees and scattered families - all the more reason they needed the Jedi, all the more reason someone needed to _do_ something. And all this talk felt empty, even though he knew he was rallying their forces, with the Council’s blessing or no. Which may have been why he found himself wandering towards the training chambers, likely empty now that the sun was low.

But when he entered the hall, it was not empty, it was not quiet. Upon stepping over the threshold, the doorway dimmed, his ears were met with a dull _thump thumping_. An insistent drum beating to the rhythm of a heartbeat that very well might have been his, but he knew better than to think so. Someone was in the other room, practicing the double-blade. The even footing, the strong center, the weighted feet - all the better for grounding and steady movement despite the weight of the shaft, all the better for balancing both blades and maximizing each arcing swing - gave it away. He paused, but he did not desist. Instead, he crept onward, curious as to who was in the other room, training up a storm, at this hour.

The blade had no crystal, but its training shafts still glittered in the low light, igniting momentary flames as it caught the reflection with every calculated flutter. Commanding them was a girl, no older than seventeen - and Alek knew this because he instantly knew who she was. The one Revan had told him about. The misfit, the outcast. Just like them.

Her hair was jet black and cropped short, swaying just below her chin and rapping at her face as she moved, sweat sticking it to the nape of her neck in parts. A Padawan braid snaked down the side, tucked behind an ear though it flapped as she moved, swinging from one side of her head to the next - but she paid no mind to it. She moved without distraction, as if he were not there. And for all she knew, _he_ wasn’t, either

Alek glanced along the side wall, still shrouded in shadow, and eyed a training staff leaning against it. He looked back to her, watching again as she went through the motions - likely a routine Master Kavar taught her and hammered into her memory - as he gingerly picked up the staff, keen on shaking things up a bit.

She continued, beat by beat, as Alek entered the room, sticking to the shadows so he would not be seen. 

Her focus was fierce, as sharp and intentional as a threaded needle weaving in and out of its intended fabric, yet she did not notice him - at least, not yet.

_So this is the girl_ , he thought, as if Revan might hear him from across the galaxy. _This is the girl the Mandalorians will fear?_

There was no surprise there, even if he was being generous. Master Kavar himself had fought in the early skirmishes, back when the Jedi thought they could scare the Mandalorians back to their dark moons and their clans just by showing up. It was Kavar’s name on their tongues, it was his blade they knew, and the one they expected on the battlefield. But Revan had other intentions, and perhaps it was Kavar’s student’s blade, this girl’s, that they would come to know instead.

Alek circled her like a hawk, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, when she suddenly broke form and stabbed at the shadows, straight at his face. At the last possible moment, he brought the training staff to meet her blade, the training plasteel clanging and echoing in the hall around them, ripples of surprise even edging into the Force.

“Care to join?” she said through a smirk.

Alek gaped but kept his cool, hooking her saber and swinging it away as he eased into a counterattack, his charming smile at the ready.

“You don’t mind if I cut in?” he breathed as he entered the light.

Now it was her turn to balk, her eyes going wide as she registered his features, his height, everything about him. She’d heard of him, and Revan too he’d wager, but the look on her face said it all. But just as quickly as she betrayed her inner alarm, she swallowed it again, her surprise dissolving into stern determination as she met his blade in kind and pushed him back once more.

“Gladly.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was initially written for a prompt on tumblr back in 2018, though I've had ideas for a Malak/Jedi Exile origin story since as early as 2006/2007 so this may potentially turn into a series of snippets exploring the evolution of their relationship throughout the duration of the Mandalorian Wars. We'll see...
> 
> The title is a play on a quote Alek/Malak has in the Knights of the Old Republic comics: "Sometimes you have to enter the darkness to save the light."


End file.
